Durango & Silverton RR Shots |About Me
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| Construction shots: | Benchwork | Scenery | Finished Scenes |
| Layout: | Trackplan & Specs | History & Notable Dates |
| Misc: | The Road to MMR
| Articles I've
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links | Durango & Silverton RR Shots |About Me |
"Model Railroad Author" was the first certificate I earned in the Achievement Program. Actually, I'd almost earned the certificate long before I applied for it because of a series of model railroading-related cartoons and articles I did for the NMRA Bulletin back in 1979-1982, when Whit Towers and Don Mitchell were editors. Turned out that when I did apply for the certificate, I had almost twice the number of points I needed. I received this certificate on November 14, 2001.
The NMRA website lists the requirements for this certificate like this (again, these are edited for my website; please visit www.nmra.org for the full set of requirements):
A total of forty-two (42) points must be earned from a combination of material in the following areas:
Published Articles: This is material that appears in printed media, such as magazines or newsletters and may include text, photographs, drawings, etc. Material that has been published or accepted for publication, may be claimed. Points are awarded regardless of size or number of features appearing in any particular issue.
The NMRA website then lists a grid, showing the number of points earned for each type of publication. For example, an article in a national publication earns 3 points, where an article in a Divisional publication only earns 1 point. Photos, scale drawings, and track plans each have their own sets of points.
Here are several of the cartoons I had published in the NMRA Bulletin under the heading, "Beginner's Dictionary." Sure, some of them are a bit corny, but I think the concept was fairly fun, and it demonstrates how strange some of the terms we use are. All told, almost 50of these cartoons ran in that four-year span.
(this one's my all-time favorite)
Although I've had a bunch of articles published in the commercial press since the late '70s, these are the ones I submitted for my "Model Railroad Author" certificate. You can click on each to see either the text of the article, or a photo of the article in the magazine.
For a complete list of (and peek at) all the articles I've had published, please visit my "Articles" page.
"Turning a crummy crummy into a not-so-beautiful bobber" -- A "how-to" article that appeared in the November, 2001 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman magazine.
"Lily pads, cattails and pond scum" -- This article appeared in the March, 2001 issue of Model Railroader magazine, and later was reprinted in Kalmbach's "New Scenery Tips and Techniques" book. In addition, it's reprinted in full on the Trains.com website, which you can see by clicking here.
"Pike Pix" -- A black and white shot of my railroad (with a little "inside" joke) published in the July, 1980, National Model Railroad Association's Bulletin.
"Memories of an Ex-Tyro" -- A short article I wrote which was published in the August, 1980, National Model Railroad Association's Bulletin.
"A Statement of Condition" -- An article dealing with the facts and figures of one's pike, published in the September, 1980, NMRA Bulletin.
"Dr. Perspiro's Tubular Wind Passing Machine" -- A short construction article published in the October, 1980, NMRA Bulletin.
"Train Situation Indicator Uses" -- A rather lengthy article I wrote, which appeared as the very first installment in Model Railroader magazine's "Symposium on Electronics" column.
"Trackside Photo" -- A color photograph I took of my old pike, published in the August, 1981, Model Railroader magazine.
